stream of consciousnesshttps://graphdes.com
notes, designs, and ideas from a graphic designerSat, 15 Oct 2016 11:13:08 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/https://secure.gravatar.com/blavatar/4b851198cecab096281fc6d360535923?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.wp.com%2Fi%2Fbuttonw-com.pngstream of consciousnesshttps://graphdes.com
chromatichttps://graphdes.com/2015/10/07/chromatic/
https://graphdes.com/2015/10/07/chromatic/#respondWed, 07 Oct 2015 21:16:32 +0000http://graphdes.com/?p=4505]]>Haven’t posted any collections of work in a while. I still have 8 bazillion bookmarks and evernotes of things. I’ve been keeping track of a lot of it on Designspiration. One of my favorite collections is Chromatic. I’m collecting pastel :)

Here’s some of one of the collections all together and a few of my favorites.

Filed under: Design Tagged: animals, artist, illustration, my design, useful post, wishlist]]>https://graphdes.com/2015/10/06/you-can-buy-some-of-my-art-now/feed/0beccashaynesociety6launched a new sitehttps://graphdes.com/2015/08/02/launched-a-new-site/
https://graphdes.com/2015/08/02/launched-a-new-site/#respondSun, 02 Aug 2015 22:41:02 +0000http://graphdes.com/?p=4486]]>Thanks to the Wayback Machine, I was able to get screenshots of my old site, which I forgot to do while it was still live. My first site, I built completely from scratch during my semester abroad in Spain in early 2011, then pretty much didn’t touch it until recently. But, as Jeff Veen says, “Web-site creation isn’t something you learn once and then check off on your to do list.” Unfortunately, I learned that the hard way, but I’m proud to say I finally pushed a new site that is fully responsive and doesn’t totally suck!

Not 100% done, but when is any designer every 100% done with anything. Hey, shipped is better than perfect right? Still working on a few projects, so check back every once in a while.

Et Voilà

Old site: non responsive:

PS this blog is not 100% abandoned, I’m just inordinately busy. I’ll come back to it regularly eventually, don’t give up. Have heaps of evernotes of things to share when I get a chance.

I haven’t had much time for projects and art lately, and have had to put several things on hold while I focus on work. The weather is getting nicer and the days are getting longer, so I’m making an effort to bring some art projects back to the table.

The less time I make for these projects, the more I realize how much they matter. Having something to focus on that I’m passionate about besides my full time job is incredibly important for several reasons. By diverting some of my attention, I’m able to nurture and rekindle passion and energy and feed that back into the work that I do. It’s a win-win. When I make things for fun, my work work gets better.

Multitasking and time off have long been preached by many designers. Stephan Sagmeister speaks frequently about how taking some time off to make things without agenda creates room for exciting new work. Daniel Hernández explains that having multiple projects to switch between gives him new perspective when approaching daunting explorations.

“I usually work on two projects at once, in order to be able to move away and look at it from a new perspective when I get back to it. That helps me a lot to keep things fresh. Yet I think my main “strategy” is to work on projects that are inspiring, fun and motivating.”
— Daniel Hernández, Chilean type designer, LatinoType

I’ve also been mentoring a high school student for the last several weeks and I’ve learned a lot about myself and what it means to be a designer. When you have to pause to explain what you do to someone who has no knowledge of the field or vocabulary, it forces you to take a closer look at what matters and learn how to articulate it. My work has gotten stronger because there isn’t any option to just say “I made it because I liked it that way.” It’s much easier to justify my design decisions or recognize what still isn’t working when I have to explain my gut instincts out loud. I can already see my own growth, both in the work that I do, and the working relationships with my non-design coworkers, just from letting somebody young into my world and trying to explain to her how it all works. Everybody always said the best way to learn is to teach.

Here’s a little bit of what I’ve been up to besides the awesome things I’ve been making at work. (PS I have been making some awesome and exciting things at Lookout, none of which I can share at the moment.)

It’s been a while since I’ve made time, but I am working on the second edition of my cook book. As a way to set goals and keep the project organized, I’m writing recipes, trials, and errors at thetypekitchen.com.

Also, I’ve had a few weekend excursions lately and have been taking a lot of pictures, which until recently had no where to live. I started a simple tumblr, which will likely evolve into a more robust photo diary later. I’ve got quite a backlog in Lightroom of unedited photographs, but they will be up soon. For now, just a few world travels.

For the last three years, graphdes has been a fantastic place for me to share inspiration, ideas, and drafts of bigger projects. I haven’t had time to share anything in a while, but I have folders, drafts, and evernotes full of things in the works.

That’s all for now. back to work. You can always tweet at me if you have questions or want to talk design.

Interesting concept. In this day and age, we tend to forget that user experience as a concept applies to much more than what we see across a variety of screen sizes or digital products. Japanese designer, Akio Hayakawa, revisits the way we use an object as mundane as a pencil, and manipulates the behavior we exhibit over time interacting with this object. The new pencil: Easy Pencil, sleek, clean, simple, and deliberate.

The pencil has long served as a paragon of functional design: unlike ink, graphite cannot leak. And unlike today’s tablets or computers, a pencil never loses its electrical charge. Instead of a wooden pencil that contains en equal length of graphite, the graphite stops short about two inches above the end.

“Even as the pencil gets shorter, we attempt to use it to the end — even though we know it is difficult,” Hayakawa tells Co.Design.

The Easy Pencil’s cleverness is that is solves a strange, self-inflicted problem: people are procrastinators. This design encourages writers to replace pencils on time. (read more)

The only thing I’d like to see with Easy Pencil is an eraser; I’ve been trained since the beginning of using pencils that erasers go on the other end, and I’ve definitely scratched a drawing with the blunt end of non-erasing pencils. Bigger erasers are for bigger mistakes. Erasers on the ends of pencils are for gut reactions.

I pretty much only draw with Micron pens, but these might replace Ticonderoga in my pencil jar (if I can buy them in bulk for not much more). It’s still just a prototype for now.

Filed under: Design Tagged: apparel, designer, industrial design, minimal, product design, typography]]>https://graphdes.com/2014/01/30/just-my-type/feed/0beccashayneScreen Shot 2014-01-30 at 10.06.49 AMScreen Shot 2014-01-30 at 10.07.21 AMScreen Shot 2014-01-30 at 10.07.42 AMeditions of 100https://graphdes.com/2014/01/24/editions-of-100/
https://graphdes.com/2014/01/24/editions-of-100/#respondFri, 24 Jan 2014 22:28:42 +0000http://graphdes.com/?p=4420]]>Editions of 100 is a live collection of prints and posters from designers around the world. If I had the wall space and the cash, I’d own about half of these in a heartbeat. Take a look through their ever changing library. Here are a few great ones (according to my personal taste).

Filed under: Design Tagged: artist, cool, daily image, designer, detailed, fine art, illustration, minimal, organized, pattern, poster, print design, typography]]>https://graphdes.com/2014/01/24/editions-of-100/feed/0beccashayne11-11-2021-3nudgehttps://graphdes.com/2014/01/24/nudge/
https://graphdes.com/2014/01/24/nudge/#respondFri, 24 Jan 2014 19:00:41 +0000http://graphdes.com/?p=4414]]>I found Nudge on one of Designstruct’s posts celebrating simple, clean web design; but not only is Nudge’s website beautiful, so is their work! A Brand & Design firm out of Charleston, South Carolina. Here’s a few gems from their body of work. (PS their site is responsive)

Filed under: Design Tagged: color, cool, daily image, fine art, photography]]>https://graphdes.com/2014/01/22/ocean/feed/0beccashaynebio-2double takehttps://graphdes.com/2014/01/22/double-take/
https://graphdes.com/2014/01/22/double-take/#commentsWed, 22 Jan 2014 19:15:53 +0000http://graphdes.com/?p=4402]]>Someone at work just sent out this link of false signs in the UK subway system. It took me several minutes before I remembered where I’d seen a similar concept before; then it clicked, and I realized it was part of a brilliant TED talk by Stefan Sagmeister, nearly 10 years ago.

His talk covers a series of topics, and at one point, he broaches the subject of design that can truly evoke happiness. He speaks of moments you don’t notice, and the act of realizing something different. His entire talk is worth the watch.

At eight minutes and five seconds, he turns from discussing design that depicts happiness to design that actually generates happiness:

Much, much more difficult is this, where the designs actually can evoke happiness — and I’m going to just show you three that actually did this for me. This is a campaign done by a young artist in New York, who calls himself “True.” Everybody who has ridden the New York subway system will be familiar with these signs? True printed his own version of these signs. Met every Wednesday at a subway stop with 20 of his friends. They divided up the different subway lines and added their own version. So this is one.

Now, the way this works in the system is that nobody ever looks at these signs. So you’re you’re really bored in the subway, and you kind of stare at something. And it takes you a while until it actually — you realize that this says something different than what it normally says. I mean, that’s, at least, how it made me happy.

And now a few of the gems from my coworker’s link on the London Underground:

Filed under: Design Tagged: advice, artist, cool, designer, film, funny, photography, witty]]>https://graphdes.com/2014/01/22/double-take/feed/1beccashayneTEDfake-signs-in-london-underground-012-500x373fake-signs-in-london-underground-007-500x375fake-signs-in-london-underground-004two tonehttps://graphdes.com/2014/01/19/two-tone/
https://graphdes.com/2014/01/19/two-tone/#respondMon, 20 Jan 2014 05:53:42 +0000http://graphdes.com/?p=4396]]>I made something! And I finished it! My three-dimensional craftsmanship skills have always been far outstripped by my conceptual and two dimensional design skills. Nonetheless, I successfully completed a two-tone infinity scarf in time to wear it the rest of winter! (incidentally, today was 72 degrees, and I spent it at the park).

Filed under: Design Tagged: apparel, daily image, minimal, my design, pattern, photography]]>https://graphdes.com/2014/01/19/two-tone/feed/0beccashaynethescarfstitchesmomentshttps://graphdes.com/2013/12/26/moments/
https://graphdes.com/2013/12/26/moments/#respondThu, 26 Dec 2013 21:50:36 +0000http://graphdes.com/?p=4377]]>Pause for a minute. San Francisco is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. I’m a bit biased, but these snapshots from years past still have the same grace the city breathes with today.

Filed under: Design Tagged: cool, daily image, detailed, organized, photography]]>https://graphdes.com/2013/12/26/moments/feed/0beccashayne11463569423_43e2ccc6a7_b11463409695_54d729cfa8_b11463409075_d21678a72b_b11463455584_69ba767ba3_b11463454314_f598046762_b11463454394_67e68bc2d9_b11463530976_0031d56d15_bdesign philosophyhttps://graphdes.com/2013/12/16/design-philosophy/
https://graphdes.com/2013/12/16/design-philosophy/#commentsMon, 16 Dec 2013 20:59:17 +0000http://graphdes.com/?p=4366]]>I’ve spent some time reorganizing the Quotes page to give the content direction and hierarchy. Since there were so many, I had to print them out and color code them based on category (design, simplicity, invention, art, life advice, passages from books, etc). Think of this list as a found poem.